UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $129.00 to $139.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.47.

Westlake Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $112.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $116.46.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -18.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $3,004,304.52. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Westlake by 7,239.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $312,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,207 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $160,548,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $104,314,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in Westlake by 246.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,851 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Westlake by 440.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,823,000 after purchasing an additional 696,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

More Westlake News

Here are the key news stories impacting Westlake this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Westlake to $139 (from $129) and put a Buy rating on the stock — implying roughly a 23% upside from current levels. That upgrade and higher PT are the primary bullish driver today, supporting the stock’s gain. Benzinga TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks issued a mixed set of small upward tweaks to some out‑quarter estimates (Q4 2026 EPS revised modestly to ($0.20) from ($0.24); Q4 2027 to $0.09 from $0.07) and published FY2028 modeling. These marginal improvements in a few out quarters are unlikely to move the stock materially on their own but slightly offset larger cuts elsewhere.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut multiple near‑term and medium‑term earnings forecasts and trimmed FY2026–FY2027 outlooks (examples: Q1 2026 to ($0.38), Q1 2027 to $0.10 from $0.65, Q2 2027 to $0.77 from $1.43; FY2026 to $0.75, FY2027 to $1.68 from $2.98). Zacks maintains a Hold rating — these downward revisions highlight weaker expected near‑term operating performance and are a bearish signal for investors focused on cyclical demand and margin recovery.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.